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On a recent trip to China Mr Hammond got ahead of himself coming off the plane

EPA

Mrs May will face leaders including Germany's Angela Merkel alone for the first time

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom will present the current state of affairs in the country

Donald Tusk

The talks will come as a Russia's only aircraft carrier, along with an escort destroyer and submarine, taunt European navies by carrying out military drills in the north sea.

Theresa May will fly to Brussels for two days of talks to lay out the UK's position on how it will proceed in its negotiations to leave the crumbling administration.

But unlike on previous occasions - where the PM was accompanied by an army of advisers - she will be entirely alone with her European colleagues for the duration of the dinner.

And as the Prime Minister gets ready to update the "current state of affairs" to under-fire European Commission president Donald Tusk over coffee, back home in Britain there's rumblings Philip Hammond has been whipped into line.

The Chancellor, who staunchly campaigned to remain in the EU while he was foreign secretary and who has been warring with fellow Conservative MP Liam Fox, has been accused of leaking sensitive information to the press about the Government's Brexit strategy in a bid to undermine aspects of the negotiations.

Now sources say Mr Hammond who appeared before the Treasury Select Committee this week with a softened approach is trying to stay on Mrs May's good side as she gets ready to make an after dinner speech this evening to 27 member states which is intended to show her cabinet is unified on issues such as migration and the single market.

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Mrs May took the lead after Mr Hammond got off the plane almost sparking a protocol breach

“You can’t subtly brief against your cabinet colleagues to every national newspaper," said a senior Tory source.

"What you’re seeing now is the reaction to that.”

In an invitation to the EU Summit issued to leaders, Donald Tusk mentioned Britain but refused to acknowledge the elephant in the room.

He wrote: "The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom will present the current state of affairs in the country.

"Finally, I will outline my suggestions for improving our working methods."

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Mrs May takes her entourage including Mr Hammond to Birmingham

Now as the Prime Minister also gets set to hold her first tête-à-tête European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker tomorrow, it is said Mrs May is to arrive in Brussels with positive yet firm gestures that will secure the best exit for all.

Dominic Raab, a close political ally and a friend of Brexit Secretary David Davis, said: “Until we’ve made a big-hearted positive offer to our European friends, you won’t start to see a reaction from Brussels that is anything other than cold.

“There is no criticism there,” he added. “I actually think it was really smart of her [May] to get out of the way what we’re not going to do early. It left up to five months for that to sink in across the EU but also in Brussels.”

Mrs May has been shoring up support from European leaders ahead of the summit.

Last week she met with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in her first visit to Madrid since becoming Prime Minister.

She made it perfectly clear that the UK would honour the status of EU citizens living in Britain if the EU also honoured a commitment to UK citizens living overseas.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: "The Prime Minister took the opportunity to praise the contribution that the many Spanish citizens living in the UK make to our country.

She made clear that she wants and expects to be able to protect the status of all EU nationals living in the UK and that the only circumstances in which that wouldn’t be possible would be if British citizens’ rights in European member states were not protected in return.

"Both leaders reiterated that our 2 countries have a strong relationship both economically and in terms of people to people links. Last year total trade between us amounted to almost £40 billion and the UK was the second most popular destination for Spanish investment, behind only the USA. Millions of British tourists visit Spain every year and around 280,000 have made this their home.

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Mrs May will meet with Tusk and tell the EU her cabinet is not split

"The Prime Minister also made clear that as we go through the process of departure we will do so as one United Kingdom. There will be internal consultation with the devolved administrations and other stakeholders about how we represent everyone’s interests, but we will negotiate and leave as the UK.

"Both sides agreed that the UK is leaving the EU not Europe and we remain committed to positive bilateral relations, and with the European Union as a whole."